That’s when my little family and I moved into our home here. Seems like so long ago. This has been the longest we have ever lived in one place.
Shortly after Jason and Jessica were born my husband and I divorced. Within a few months the kids and I moved down to LBI. We had always loved the beach and I wanted to raise my children in an environment that allowed them the freedom to enjoy and explore nature. While we lived on LBI we always lived in one community. Unfortunately, because we were renters, our address changed every year or so. My children did spend their entire elementary school careers at Beach Haven Elementary and when it was time to consider our future we moved off of LBI.
Fate brought us to Voorhees. I was attending Rutgers Camden and preparing for student teaching when Jess and I went looking for a place for us to live one summer afternoon. Two miles from the school where I was scheduled to do my student teaching, we found an apartment that we really liked. In May of 2000, just as I was graduating rutgers, I was hired to teach in the same school where I had done my student teaching.
Jess and I would drive around our neighborhood seeking for sale signs on homes. We actually saw the for sale sign on our current home in August of 2000. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the right time. Fortunately, when the right time came along, the house was still available. Jess and I went and saw the house one Saturday in January and knew, immediately, that this was the house for us.
Our venture into home ownership was truly a family affair. We worked hard as a little family to save and plan. Our move was an adventure that I will never forget. Our new home was literally 2 blocks from our apartment. Jason, at 16, would drive stuff from the apartment to the house while Jess and I packed and cleaned at one place or the other. Our little home has everything that was on our list, a fireplace, a garage, a family room, 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.
It was, and still is, perfect.